Searching for a Heart
by Varda-Elbereth-Elentari
Summary: Set just as Chain of Memories is beginning and shortly after The Opal Deception has finished. Sora has wandered into Castle Oblivion and it's up to the Three Fairies to summon help to save him. Can Holly, Artemis and co. outwit Org. XIII and save Sora?
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, this is terrible, terrible," Fauna murmured. Her green dress gently swayed in the breeze as she hung above Castle Oblivion. "They've taken that poor boy."

"Well, I don't see what the problem is," Merryweather said, arms crossed over her chest. Her wand beat an impatient rhythm in the air, sparks flying from the tip. "He beat Ansem, or whatever name he's calling himself now, didn't he? Why should these people give him any trouble?"

"Because, Merryweather," Flora said, gazing down at the castle, "Nobodies aren't like Heartless. Heartless are made from the Darkness of a Heart and while strong ones like Ansem can retain some semblance of intellect, they are mainly guided by emotions. That is the core of a Heart. But Nobodies…" she shook her head. "They are guided by the Will which is much more closely related to the Intellect. And Nobodies like these, that approach such human appearances, their Will and Minds were strong indeed. They will be able to plan like a Heartless could not."

"Well, what are we doing out here then?!" Merryweather exclaimed. She straightened her shoulders and threw her head back. "Let's go rescue him!"

"But we can't get in the Castle," Fauna said. "There's someone in there with magical abilities, and they are keeping us out."

"We can't just do nothing!" Merryweather said. She flew in a circle around her two companions, blue sparks trailing from her wand. "We should go find Master Yen Sid."

Flora stared silently down at Castle Oblivion. Finding Master Yen Sid would be the best course of action. But he had disappeared shortly after the boy called Sora had defeated Ansem. He had not said where he was going, but Flora supposed he had headed to the Realm of Darkness to find the King. But that was just her guess, she didn't know. And even if he was there, and even if they could get in the Realm of Darkness, and then even if they could survive long enough to find him, it would probably be far too late to help Sora. She sighed. "I wish we could Merryweather, but time is so short." Her eyes widened. Short. Why hadn't she thought of it sooner?

"What? What is it?" Merryweather asked coming to rest in front of her.

"Do you remember that world barely connected to the others that we visited with Master Yen Sid around seventy years ago?" Flora asked.

"The one with the man who had Master Yen Sid's name backwards?" Fauna asked, floating closer. She smiled. "He was such a funny man. He wanted to know all about the stories from all the different worlds."

"So?" Merryweather said. "What does that have to do with helping Sora?"

"Well, you'll remember, dears, that while at first glance it looks like magic didn't exist on Earth, we discovered it had just been driven underground. And we met that lovely little Elf Holly Short. I've kept in contact with her over the years. She's part of something called LEPrecon now and she knows a lot of high level fairies. Fairies that might be able to help us."

Merryweather nodded vigorously. "It's worth a shot," she said. "Let's go!"

"I agree," Fauna said.

"Well then," Flora said, extending her wand arm. "Let's be off!" She drew a small intricate pattern in the air, Fauna and Merriweather doing likewise. The three patterns hung suspended and glowed for a moment. And then, in a small burst of blue, green, and red light, the three fairies vanished.


	2. Chapter 2

"What? It's perfect!" Mulch said. Idly, he loosened his jaw and stretched it wide, causing a couple passing goblins to move more quickly.

Holly raised an eyebrow as she gazed at the building in front of her. Actually, that was being generous. This was four sagging walls with what looked like a tarp slapped on top. She sighed. This was far from the part of town she had worked in when she was still in LEPrecon. "Couldn't we get something that isn't going to threaten to fall down every time the lights flicker?"

"Holly, listen, neither of us is rich." Mulch grinned. "At least not down here. If you want I could set us up above-ground."

"No, I do not want to live with the Mud Men," Holly said, vehemently shaking her head.

"Oh, I think there's on Mud Man you might want to live with," Mulch said, turning from her and moving towards the door.

Holly raised an eyebrow and followed him. "Who? Artemis?" She laughed. "Listen, I respect Artemis, and he really came through for us with Opal but I would not want to be around him all the time." She shook her head as they ducked inside. "Honestly, I can't see how Butler manages it."

Mulch and Holly stood in the center of the small one room building and looked around. Spots of light leaked through the roof and the walls. One window looked out on the street in front of them. "There are holes in the roof and the walls," Holly said, poking her finger through one.

"What's it going to do, rain on us?" Mulch asked. "This is just to get started, Holly. Once we take a few cases we can fix this place up. And then after a few more move into somewhere—"

"That's not a total dump," Holly said, drawing her finger back in. Some of the wall came with it. She sighed and dusted off her hands. "At least we'll have enough money for a sign."

"That's the spirit!" Mulch said.

Just then the door creaked open again. Holly and Mulch turned to see Trouble Kelp walk in the door. He looked around briefly, a look of distaste on his face.

"You're not setting up here, are you?" he said.

Mulch glared at him and Holly sighed again. "What are you doing down here, Captain? Sorry, I meant Major," Holly said with a grin. "Don't tell me the great and powerful Ark Sool wants hotshot Holly Short back."

"I wish," Trouble said. He poked his head back out the door and looked around. Nodding he brought himself back in and shut the door.

"Followed?" Mulch asked, moving towards the window.

"No, or at least I hope not." He turned to Holly. "Holly we caught an odd trio of fairies on the surface. They were trying to find an entrance to the Underground we closed a couple years ago." He shook his head. "They look like no fairies I've ever seen. I mean, they actually call themselves fairies, like the way you and I would call ourselves an Elves." He wrinkled his nose. "And their clothes, like something straight out of a Disney film."

Holly suddenly straightened and looked at Trouble with wide eyes. "Why tell me this?" she asked, suspiciously.

Trouble shifted on his feet. "The one dressed in red said she knew you and that it was urgent that she contact you. What was her name…" he muttered.

"Flora!" Holly said.

"Yes, that's it," Trouble said nodding. "So you _do_ know them."

"Yes, they…" Holly paused. "Well, they aren't from around here."

"Well, if you'll come with me, I'll get you in contact with them. Since they have no priors I should be able to let them off with a warning. Just want to make sure the Commander isn't aware of it. If he heard they were asking for you…"

Mulch gave a short laugh. "He'd never let them out. Almost be as bad as asking for me."

"Alright, let's go," Holly said, moving towards the door. She stopped and turned to Mulch. "Do you want to come?"

"Of course!" Mulch said. "I'd say it sounds like we've found our first case."


	3. Chapter 3

Within an hour, Holly and Mulch found themselves sitting in a small library not far from the LEPrecon headquarters. Trouble had escorted the three fairies to the library and then with murmured apologies had left.

Flora smiled as the three fairies sat down across from Holly and Mulch. "Holly Short! You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!"

Holly smiled. "The last time you saw me in person was around seventy years ago." She looked carefully from fairy to fairy. "Which leads me to think this isn't a social visit. What's wrong?"

The three fairies looked at each other, unsure of how to start.

"Let me guess," Mulch said, leaning back in his chair, which was notably shorter than Holly's for the fairies'. "Either someone needs saving, something needs stealing, or both."

"The first one," Flora said. She eyed Mulch somewhat uncertainly as he grinned at her. "And you are, sir?"

"Mulch Diggums, ex-thief extraordinaire, and the Diggums half of Short and Diggums Private Investigators."

"Short and Diggums?" Holly said, turning to him.

"What, you don't want your name first?" Mulch asked.

"I don't really care, but I thought you would," Holly said.

Mulch shrugged. "I just like that way it sounds."

Holly turned back to the fairies with a shrug. "Who needs saving? And from what?"

"A boy named Sora," Merryweather said. "The Keyblade master."

"He saved our world, all of our worlds, even yours, from destruction," Fauna said.

"Wait, what, waddya mean all our worlds?" Mulch asked.

"You know how I said these three weren't from around here?" Holly said, gesturing. "I wasn't joking. Our world is one of many. For the most part this doesn't matter as most people cannot travel between worlds. These three are from one of them, and are capable of crossing boundaries most can't."

"Alright, I'll buy it for now," Mulch said, allowing his chair to lean forward again.

"Sora saved us from being overrun by the Heartless," Flora said. "Heartless are the darkness in someone's heart given form when darkness consumes a heart," she continued in answer to Holly's and Mulch's questioning looks.

"So," Holly said, nodding, "I'm going to guess someone took advantage of this Sora shortly after this when he was in a weakened state."

"Organization XIII," Merryweather said, bristling. A few blue sparks shot off the end of her wand. "They've trapped him in Castle Oblivion and blocked us from getting in."

"What is Organization XIII?" Holly asked, leaning forward, red hair momentarily brushing into her eyes.

"They are composed of Nobodies," Flora said. "Sometimes, when a Heartless is formed, the will of the person that has been overcome is so strong it takes on a sort of life of its own. Like if you were to die," she said pointing at Holly, "and your clothes had absorbed enough of your Will that they got up and started moving on their own."

"But these aren't Nobodies like that," Merryweather interjected. "Their much stronger, human looking."

"And very smart," Fauna said, softly.

"So, you need someone to break into Castle Oblivion to pull this Sora out," Mulch said. He smiled widely. "That's something of a specialty of mine."

Holly was silent and looked down at the table. "So, these are powerful, intelligent magical beings then?" she said.

"Yes," Flora said. "Can you help us?"

Holly looked up. "I don't think Mulch and I would be enough."

The fairies looked at each other worried. "Do you know anyone who can?" Merryweather asked turning back to Holly and Mulch.

Holly and Mulch turned to each other. Slowly the both began to grin. "Do you think he'd be up to it so soon?" Holly asked.

"Oh, please," Mulch said. "I'm already bored, and if I'm bored, Artemis has to be going crazy."

Holly turned back to the fairies. "I think there's a friend of ours you should meet."


	4. Chapter 4

Artemis sat in a leather armchair in the spacious den of Fowl manor idly twisting a small cube in his hands. He turned the cube on one side and allowed his fingers to slide over it. Instantly, the side of the cube lit up, a small screen now showing a live news show. He watched uninterestedly as young blond woman and older white haired male bickered about the newest road tax that was being pushed through. He sighed and his fingers slid over the cube again, the screen shutting off as Butler walked into the room.

Butler frowned. "Artemis," he said, "I thought you agreed you weren't going to use the C Cube any longer."

"Actually," Artemis said, setting the cube down on the coffee table in front of him, "I promised not to sell it and the fairy technology in it." He regarded it thoughtfully. "I could probably build another, less sophisticated model without the fairy technology." He pushed it with a long thin finger. "It would not be nearly as good though." He frowned. Moving backwards was not in his repertoire.

Butler raised an eyebrow as he sat down across from Artemis. He recognized the signs, Artemis was growing bored. Even though he had shown remarkable growth of character lately, Butler was afraid that if Artemis didn't figure out something to do with himself, he would once again chase the thrill that came with pulling off the perfect crime.

As if reading his mind Artemis looked up from the C Cube to Butler. "What do you think I should do?"

Butler shifted in his chair. "Artemis, I believe you could do anything that you wanted to." He sighed. "The problem being, you have to want to do it."

"What is the point of just doing something?" Artemis asked, pushing the C Cube aside suddenly. "I need to be challenged. Otherwise I will atrophy."

Just then, a small vibrating ring filled the room. Artemis jumped up and reached in his pocket pulling out a small device Holly Short had given him the last time he had seen her. Artemis flicked it on. "Holly," he said, trying to hide his pleasure. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"Artemis," Holly said, her tone clipped and businesslike, "I have some friends who have visited me. Friends who need help."

Artemis raised a thing eyebrow. "And you think I may be of assistance?"

Holly nodded. "Yes, I do."

Artemis nodded. "What kind of help do your friends need?"

"It would be easier to explain in person," Holly said, a hand reaching up and running through her hair. She looked over her shoulder. "I'm coming, Mulch, keep your mouth shut!" She turned back to Artemis. "Can you meet us in the clearing where I had the, ah, pleasure of first making your acquaintance?"

"Certainly," Artemis said. "Anything for a friend."

Holly smiled at that. "Right. I'll see you in few hours." She suddenly turned again. "Diggums, stop trying to bribe him!" The feed cut off.

Artemis put the device back in his pocket. "Butler, I do believe I have found something to do."

Butler rose from the chair. He checked his watch. "We have time before we need to start out."

Artemis nodded. "Indeed." He moved to the door.

"Time with which I am going to prepare myself," he and Butler said in unison. The stopped and turned to each other. Artemis gave a small smile and nodded. "It appears great minds do think alike."

Butler shook his head as Artemis strode down the hall. At least Artemis had found something legal to do. He hoped. Then again, the former Captain Short had now joined forces with Mulch Diggums. . . Butler let out a small breath and followed Artemis down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

Holly stood under the enormous oak tree and looked up through its leaves to the stars above. Who would have thought that she would be seeking the aid of the boy who had kidnapped her at this spot? She shook her head. Who would have thought she would have willingly walked away from LEP? If she wasn't careful she might do something even crazier, like admire Ark Sool.

"So, where is he?" Mulch asked, sitting down back to the tree.

"Probably checking the perimeter to make sure we didn't bring unwanted guests with us," Holly said. She bent to the ground looking for an acorn. She really didn't need to do The Ritual for a couple weeks but she did it every chance she had now after her first encounter with Artemis. Finding and acorn, she picked it up and straightened. As she did a slight movement in the bushes to her right caught her eye. "Alright Mud Boy I know you're there," Holly said.

Artemis stepped out wearing a pair of sunglasses. He nodded to Holly and Mulch. "And so, what trouble brings you here? And what friends?"

Holly sighed at this and rubbed the acorn against her forehead. "Well, my friends they are…" she trailed off, looking away. "This is going to look crazy no matter how do it, Holly," she muttered. "Come on out!" she called in a louder voice.

The air next to Holly shimmered briefly in red, blue, and green. Then, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather came in to focus next to Holly.

There was silence for a moment as Artemis looked from one fairy to the next. "Either this is an elaborate practical joke," Artemis said, slowly, "or I am looking at a very clever fairy disguise that lets you walk among the populace unchecked." He smirked.

Holly sighed. "Unfortunately it is neither." She turned to the fairies. "These three are not from here,"

"Obviously," Artemis said. He walked closer. "They're from Florida, or perhaps California." He circled the three fairies, eyeing them critically.

Turning on her heel, Holly moved in front of Artemis. "This isn't a joke, Artemis! When have I ever lied to you?"

Artemis stopped and regarded Holly for a moment. "Never," he conceded. "So, when you say these three are not from here, are we speaking in a country sense or a dimensional sense?" He lowered his sunglasses just enough so he could look at Holly over the top of them.

Holly raised an eyebrow. "Trying to look cool, Mud Boy?" she asked.

Artemis put his sunglasses back up. "You didn't answer my question," he said smoothly.

"Dimensional," Flora said, speaking for the first time. She looked Artemis up and down. "He's a normal human?" she asked, turning to Holly.

Mulch laughed from under the tree. "Well, he's human," he said.

Merryweather puffed up and flew over to Artemis. "I don't see how he can help us. I bet he doesn't even know any magic!"

"No, I don't, although I am quite familiar with the rules," Artemis said, turning to Merryweather. "And if you do not want my help, I can quite easily leave the way I came."

"Alright, everyone calm down," Holly said, trying to keep herself between Merryweather and Artemis as Merryweather buzzed like an angry bee around him. "They are from another dimension, Artemis, or world as they call it. They're Master is named Yen Sid. He came here around seventy years ago to meet with Walt Disney because of a connection they share."

"Seventy years," murmured Artemis and he lowered his head. He looked up after a moment. "Intriguing, that would be just around the time _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves_ came out." He stroked his chin. "Are you suggesting that the Disney films," and he turned to look at the Three Fairies, "are actually a record of events from other worlds?"

"Yes," Flora said, nodding. "Master Yen Sid left Master Disney with a small window that let him look into other worlds. He said if stories from the different worlds were all remembered in one place, it would allow travel between them, even if Darkness threatened them."

"Ah, but many of these stories have existed for centuries," Artemis said. "Disney was surely not the first to tell the tale of Aladdin, Snow White, or," and he paused, a slight smile on his face, "Sleeping Beauty."

"Of course not!" Merryweather said. "This isn't the first window Master Yen Sid has ever given out on this world. But people were starting to forget. He needed to give the window to someone who could reach enough people so that the pathways wouldn't close."

"You see, this world is different," Fauna said, drifting forward slightly. "You see, most of the worlds we visit, even the one we are from," she said, gesturing with her wand at her two companions, "are worlds of repetition. The same story plays out again and again. Sometimes there are small differences, but mostly it's the same." She waved her wand around her. "But this world is different. It _changes_. Constantly. And do you know why?"

Artemis, looking fairly intrigued now, shook his head. "No, why?"

"Because you remember," Fauna said. "You remember your past and so you don't repeat it." She smiled. "We would constantly be repeating our past too if Master Yen Sid hadn't come to us."

"I see," Artemis said. He turned to Flora. "This Darkness you mention. I take it that it is indeed threatening your worlds?"

"Not just our worlds, all worlds," Flora said. "But it has been pushed back for the time being by a young man named Sora." She looked directly at Artemis. "He is the real reason we are here."

"He's been taken by Organization XIII," Merryweather said. "In a place called Castle Oblivion. We can't get in because there's a powerful magic keeping us out."

"Why not call Master Yen Sid?" Artemis asked.

"We don't know where he is," Flora said. "And I fear we don't have time to look for him."

"So, you need someone to figure out how to get into Castle Oblivion, save this Sora from Organization XIII, and get out?" Artemis asked.

"Yes," Flora said.

Artemis moved away and looked out over the river. "Would you be going too?" he asked looking from Holly to Mulch.

"Yes," Holly said.

"You couldn't keep me away," Mulch said, getting up.

Artemis nodded. "Then you may count me in as well." He removed his sunglasses. "Though that does raise the question of how we are going to get to this Castle Oblivion."

"We can take you to the outskirts," Flora said, raising her wand.

"First, I think we should go back to your house so they can tell us in more detail about Sora and Organization XIII," a voice from above said.

Holly whipped around looking up. Mulch merely threw a cheery wave. "Hello, Butler!" he called up into the oak tree. "Knew you had to be around here somewhere."

Butler silently jumped from the tree and landed with a small thud on the ground. "Miss Short," he said with a nod. "Diggums." He moved towards the bushes Artemis had come from. "There should be enough room in the car for everyone."

"Right then," Holly said, bending down. She made a small hole in the ground with the toe of boot, and put in the acorn in it. "I return you to the earth and claim the gift that is my right," she said softly, covering it with dirt. A green spray of sparks shot up along her arms and covered her body. Looking up, she saw the others had already headed through the bushes. Carefully, she picked up a different acorn. Then reaching in a pocket, she pulled out a small glass box. "I'll have to remember to thank Foaly for letting me keep this," she said, as she stuck the acorn inside. Sealed Acorn Units were technically illegal, but it would keep the acorn fresh so she could use it later. Pocketing it, she pushed her way through the bushes and followed the sound of voices to the car Butler and Artemis had arrived in.


	6. Chapter 6

Artemis sat with legs crossed and a carefully neutral expression on his face as the Three Fairies in turn explained about the Heartless, Nobodies, and this quest Sora had been on. It took every last fiber of his self-control and his well-founded respect in Holly Short not to laugh them all out of the room. True, fairies existed, and true magic existed, he had seen this with his own eyes. But that the nauseating cuteness that was Disney, that that should truly exist was almost too much to accept. He leaned forward and tapped the coffee table as the three fairies finally fell silent. He glanced over at Holly, thoughtfully. "So, Flora, isn't it?"he said addressing the red one.

Flora nodded. "Yes , that's correct."

"These Nobodies, they used to be human, but they are no longer?" Artemis asked.

Flora's face scrunched for a moment as if dealing with an exhausting problem. "I would say that they are only partially human. They are not whole. But I would not say they are entirely human anymore, no."

Artemis turned back to Holly. "How would that affect ownership rules?" he asked Holly.

"I honestly don't know," Holly said. "Mulch won't have any problems. But as for me," she shrugged. "We'll have to see when I get there. If I can't get in, we'll have to get you to trick someone into giving me permission," she said, grinning at him.

Artemis nodded again. He turned to Butler. "I take it the dimensional travel case is where we left it?" he asked.

Butler nodded. "I'll go get it," he said, rising from his seat. "I'll pick up the rations case too."

Mulch laughed to himself. "You actually planned for a time like this, Artemis?" he asked.

"Of course," Artemis said, leaning back. "If fairies were real, well, that left a great many possibilities open for what might exist. And I like to be prepared for multiple possibilities." He cocked his head. "Speaking of such, you don't have your weapons anymore, do you, Holly?"

"Artemis, I've made do without weapons before. There's more to be a LEP agent then using a Neutrino." She stood up and faced him. "I'd like to see you try to take me."

Artemis waved a hand. "No, I was just thinking that, well. . ." He stood up. "Here, follow me." They moved out of the den and walked down the hall. As they were going up the stairs, they passed Butler coming down. "We'll be right down," Artemis said as he and Holly walked past. "We'll meet you in the den."

Butler nodded. "If you're headed where I think you are, are you sure that what you've built is in working order?" He paused and hefted the briefcase in his hand, trying to balance it out evenly with the other one he carried.

"Positive," Artemis said, nodding.

Holly stopped short on the stairs. "Artemis," she said slowly and cautiously, "you did not build a Neutrino."

"Well, no," Artemis said, walking into a small lablike room. He withdrew a small key from his pocket and inserted it in the bottom drawer of a tall metal cabinet.. At the same time, he placed the thumb of his opposite hand on a scanner and lowered his head slightly for a retinal scanner. The drawer opened and Artemis pulled out a Neutrino. "I didn't build this. I took the liberty of having Mulch... extract one for me before we left the underground. So I could study it." He gave her as innocent a look as he could muster. "For science."

"Uh-huh," Holly said, taking the Neutrino. It was just like the one she had used when she was still on LEP, one of the newer ones. One of the ones she had been using when Commander Root... Slamming the door shut on that memory before the tears could start to brim in her eyes, she checked the charge on the Neutrino. Fully charged, Mulch must have lifted a new one. Not that she really had to worry about the charge running out, not with nuclear batteries. "I don't suppose you have a holster, do you?"  
she said, hefting the Neutrino.

"Yes, along with the thing I _did_ build," he said, as he closed the door. He moved the key to a larger drawer higher up and repeated the same process he had with the previous one. It opened and he drew out a holster and handed it too her. And then he took out a pair of-

"Wings!" Holly exclaimed. You could tell they were original design, but there was no denying the basic shape and set-up.

"They don't do much besides let someone fly yet," Artemis said, sounding somewhat apologetic. "I was still working on making a computer interface with the user, like the ones you used to use." He paused as he handed the wings to Holly. "At least I think they'll let you fly. I was actually going to test them on a small test dummy and then build a larger scale copy."

"Well," Holly said, strapping them on. "Let's see." As she had noted before same basic design, so finding the controls was not hard. She flipped it on and small humming filled the air. Gently, Holly hovered up and flew a couple laps around the small room. "Not bad, Artemis," she said with a grin, taking a few sharp turns to see how it handled. "Not as good as Foaly's but serviceable."

"If they are satisfactory, we should probably be on our way then," Artemis said, shutting the drawer.

"Yes," Holly said, landing. "They are, and we should." She slipped the Neutrino into its holster and followed Artemis out of the room.

***Author's note***

Wow, I bet y'all thought this had turned into a dead fic? ;) I wouldn't blame you if you did, I thought for a while that I wouldn't be able to decide how to continue this. Thanks to everyone who has read/review/favorited this. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy trying to smash the literary/video gamey canons of Artemis Fowl and Kingdom Hearts together without doing too much damage to either.


	7. Chapter 7

Artemis carefully tucked his sunglasses into the pocket of his blazer as he stood in the center of the den. He doubted they would be of much use against the magic they would be facing, but one never knew. He glanced from himself to Butler, to Holly, to Mulch, and then to the Three Fairies. They were the very definition of a ragtag bunch of misfits. Artemis smiled slowly. There was something very cinematic about this and he could almost hear the strain of something by E.S. Posthumus playing through the room. "Shall we venture forth then?" he asked, turning to Flora.

Flora nodded. The Three Fairies positioned themselves in a triangle around the other four and slowly raised their wands in sync. "This may fell a bit odd," Flora said. And then with a rushing swoop the Three brought their wands down and began to slash them through the air rapidly. The trails the wand left were almost solid and Artemis just had enough time to study the design being woven to see a heart in the center. But before he could question it or look any further a sudden blinding light filled his vision and then, somehow, it filled him. When he would try to describe the feeling later, the closest he could come was comparing it to becoming a sentient star, powerful, radiant, and full of light.

Which, in the next three seconds became a very good thing, because Artemis's den had been replaced by a long pitch black corridor. They were flying down the corridor behind the Three Fairies , heading towards a pinprick of light in the distance. But even though they were moving Artemis felt no breeze against him as they cut though the blackness. Everything around him felt stagnant and slightly hostile. Wonderingly, Artemis held out a hand towards the walls of the passage around him. As his hand brushed against it, he felt a sudden coldness cut through him like a knife. The light that currently engulfed sparked from his hand and cut into the black wall of the corridor.

"Don't touch it!" Flora called back, looking over her shoulder to Artemis.

"What- what is it?" Artemis asked, pulling his hand back.

"The Darkness that finds its way into all hearts, save a very special few,"Fauna answered, her green hat and dress barely discernible in the surrounding Darkness. "We are in the Corridors of Darkness, the only paths we can use between the Worlds."

Artemis turned from the walls and tried to focus his eyes on the pinprick of light that was slowly growing larger. As he gazed a smaller, closer point of light suddenly appeared closer to the group. Before he could say anything, Butler had somehow floated between Artemis and the light. "Those are eyes," Butler said, his hand straying to his hip.

Holly quickly unholstered her Neutrino and trained it on the eyes. "What is it?" she asked, eyes never straying from the yellow orbs as they grew closer.

"A Heartless," Flora answered. "It's a fairly small one. Don't provoke, it'll probably leave us alone." All the same, the sparks on the end of her wand became less erratic and more focused as they drew closer.

As they passed it, Artemis could make out a small black blob that moved in an odd bouncy lurching walk. Small antennae stuck up off the top of his head. It was almost cute looking. It turned towards them, eyes inquiring, and just behind that inquiry something else. _Hunger_ Artemis thought, as they passed it. And suddenly he realized that he was dealing with the equivalent of a zombie. Only this thing didn't want his brains, it wanted his heart. Repressing a shiver, he turned back towards the light, which was quite large now. Flora breathed a small sigh of relief as they passed through it.

There was another bright flash of light and then Artemis found himself standing on a grassy knoll. He looked up to the sky above. A few white clouds skidded through an otherwise clear blue sky. For a moment he wondered if they had really traveled anywhere. Everything looked so _normal. _And then he looked back down and raised an eyebrow. "Now that is intriguing," he said.

The group of seven looked from the hill to the Castle ahead. It was enormous, spiraling up and up into the air. Artemis estimated that it somewhere around fifteen stories high. Turrets jutted out at impossible angles, that gravity should have reeked havoc with. An air of malevolence hung in the air around it, the brightness of the day somehow making it worse. Evil things were supposed to melt in the daylight but this impossible monstrosity just sat there.

"Time's a wasting," Mulch said, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to go down there and scout a way in."

"I'll survey the surrounding area, look for any potential hostiles," Butler said, turning to Artemis. "You stay with Holly," he said pointing to her. He turned to Holly. "If he tries to do anything stupid I want you to knock him out."

Holly grinned at Butler and nodded. "Don't worry, I don't need much prompting,"

"And here I thought we were friends," Artemis said drolly. He looked to the Three Fairies. "And now that we are here, what do you plan to do?"

"We're going to try to find Master Yen Sid," Merryweather said. Her two companions nodded their agreement.

"We don't where he is or how long it will take to find him," Flora said.

"Meaning we are on our own from her on out," Artemis said, nodding.

Butler frowned. "How will we contact you when we are done."

The Three Fairies looked at each other. A quick silent consultation passed between them. Then Flora turned back to Artemis. "Can you take those dark glasses out of your pocket, dear?" she asked Artemis, pointing with her wand.

Artemis slipped the sunglasses out of his pocket and held them out. The Three Fairies pointed their wands at them and a stream of red, green, and blue collided on the glasses. For a moment a golden glow surrounded them and then faded. "Just hold those and think of us," Flora said. "And we will come as soon as we can."

"I knew it was a good idea to take these," Artemis said, slipping the glasses back in his pocket.

"Good luck and may the Light of Kingdom Hearts guide you," Flora said as the Three Fairies gathered together again. And then, weaving the same intricate pattern they had to teleport here to being with the Three Fairies disappeared.

***Author's Note***

For all of you who said, "Who the hell is E.S. Posthumus?", they are an awesome group that produces the music that you hear in many movie trailers. For instance about the last third of the song "Unstoppable"is heard during the trailer for the _Sherlock Holmes_ movie that came out last December. If you need to find epic music quickly, they're the group you're looking for.


	8. Chapter 8

Twenty minutes later, Mulch and Butler met up again with Holly and Artemis on the hilltop. "I didn't see anyone. Or any_thing_ for that matter," Butler said, standing under the shade of an Oak tree. He gazed at the castle and squinted his eyes. "I don't like it."

"Right, what do the rabbits know that we don't," Mulch agreed, sitting down and leaning back in the grass. "Because I didn't see or sense any underground. At all."

"Well, we knew this place was being used by malevolent beings, and hostile magic can have widespread affects on an area," Holly said. She turned to Mulch. "Did you find a way in?"

Mulch grinned. "You betcha. Tunneled straight down to the basement. A quick couple floors up and then straight to the unguarded front door."

Butler looked at him sharply. "And you didn't encounter anyone? No one tried to stop you?"

Mulch shook his head. "Nope. Though I took the usual precautions of course. I _am _an ex-thief after all. Not getting caught was part of my whole schtick."

"Not getting caught and not meeting anyone are two entirely different things though," Artemis said, thoughtfully. He narrowed his eyes lost in thought. "It means one of three things to me," he said finally. He started to tick off the points on his long thin fingers. "One, they could just have incredibly horrible security. Being that our Three Fairy friends could not get in though I don't think that's the case."

"Well," Holly interjected. "Sometimes magical beings forget to compensate for mundane solutions. Put a magic barrier up but don't lock the door. Not everyone has someone like Foaly running interference for them."

"But then there's the fact that there's no life of any kind but plant life," Butler said, watching the castle carefully. "If even the animals avoid this area they are probably more watchful then that."

Artemis nodded. "I agree. Which could mean that this Organization XIII is very aware of our presence and is just waiting for the right moment to act."

"But you'd think that would've been when we had the party split up," Mulch said. "Divide and conquer and all that."

"Which leaves us with option number three," Holly said, turning to Artemis. "And I'm way ahead of you, Artemis. You think someone does know we're here but is making sure everyone else doesn't."

Artemis gave a quick sharp nod. "I do. I think someone in that Castle wants us to get in and help this Sora as much as those Three Fairies did."

Butler turned from the Castle back to the group, arms folded. "Can we take that chance?"

"I don't see that we have much choice," Artemis said. "Unless," and he pulled out his sunglasses, "you want to me to summon our ride home."

Butler sighed. "Fine. But let me go in first with either Holly or Mulch. You stay out here with the other one."

Artemis gave a small smile. "No, my friend. I had the distinct honor of watching you die once to protect me. If you are walking to your doom, you will not walk alone." And he looked up at Butler, his gaze hard and firm.

"That goes for me too," Holly said. "We're in this together." She drew her Neutrino. "And if there is someone waiting, we're going to give 'em one hell of a fight."

"You can give 'em a hell of a fight, I'm going to do like the rabbits have done around here if it comes to that," Mulch said, cheerfully. "But I'll wait till it looks like we're entirely doomed."

"Thanks," Artemis said, dryly. He put the sunglasses back in his blazer pocket. "Let's go meet the welcome wagon, then," he said, turning and beginning that walk down the hill.

"Or lack thereof, we hope," Holly said, following him. She considered flipping on her Wings, but decided against it. If, by some miracle, there presence had been unmarked so far, someone buzzing the Castle probably would not go unnoticed.

As Artemis descended he noted, as Butler had said, the lack of animal life. And then, creeping up into him, so slowly at first that he didn't notice, that same feeling of hostility he had felt in the Corridors of Darkness. He looked over to Holly.

"You feel it too?" she said quietly, her Neutrino out and ready to fire.

"Yes," Artemis said.

"Keep-" Butler began, but he didn't finish. On the ground in a circle around the group, seven blacks blobs suddenly appeared. They pulled upwards, looking like a viscous liquid, that quickly reformed into seven copies of the little black Heartless they had seen in the Corridors of Darkness.

"Heartless!" Artemis said, more to himself than anyone else. "Fascinating. These things were once-" But before he could finish, one of the Heartless leapt at him, hands clawed, eyes glowing an eerie yellow.

Two laser shots cut through the air and nailed it in the chest. The Heartless fell back stunned, eyes blinking slowly. Artemis whipped around to face Butler. "You took the prototype Neutrino?"

"Well, it certainly holds more shots than my more orthodox weapons," he said, turning and nailing a second Heartless. He began to aim for a third, but suddenly the ground around it have way, and the Heartless floundered for a second and then fell in the hole.

Mulch breached the ground suddenly, looking not unlike a prairie dog and grinned. "I got this one."

"Right," Butler said, with a brief smile as he turned to take in another target.

Holly quickly picked off two more and then flicked on her Wings. "Alright, time to take the advantage," she said, buzzing in the air. Pulling in a tight circle, she began to pump out shots at the Heartless. The first Heartless she had shot took an additional two shots before finally fading away in a haze of black. It might have been a trick of the light, but Holly thought for a second she saw a vague outline of a heart surrounded by blackness darting away.

Artemis had taken cover behind Butler as he helped Holly pick off the remaining Heartless. While seemingly relentless in their efforts to reach the group, there wasn't anything even resembling coordination between them, and even individually, they weren't coming up with anything more sophisticated then a headlong rush.

"Gotcha!" Holly said, swooping down to pick off the last one. To her surprise, as she shot at it, it sunk back into the ground, becoming a black puddle again. It skirted along the ground quick, towards Artemis who was not armed. "Artemis, move!" Holly called, darting towards the trio.

Before Artemis could say anything, Butler had bodily hauled Artemis off the ground and trained his Neutrino on the approaching black blot. When it burst out of the ground, he drilled two shots into it. It staggered for a second and then faded in a haze of black as the rest had.

"Well, that was fun," Artemis said, still suspended three feet off the ground. "But I think we had better enter the castle before another group shows up."

"I wonder why this world had a problem with these things," Mulch said, popping out of the ground again. "They're not nice, granted, but they're not exactly commandos."

"Force of numbers?" Holly suggested, landing. "Or maybe this Ansem figure acted as a general for the Heartless."

"Either way," Butler said, putting Artemis back down, "we at least know we can defeat them with the Neutrinos." He holstered his again and turned to Artemis. "I knew you'd be worried if I told you I had taken it since you hadn't tested it yet."

"Yes, well, it appears to work," Artemis said, dusting himself off.

"For science," Holly said slyly as she move forward towards the castle.

Artemis said nothing to this, and followed her as the group climbed the stairs leading to the front of the castle.


	9. Chapter 9

***Author's note: It's been a while, so a little longer than usual. Enjoy.***

At the top of the stairs, the group paused for a moment. Butler inconspicuously nudged himself forward. "I may not be able to convince you to stay outside, but at least let me go first," he said.

Artemis nodded. "Lead on."

Moving slowly and deliberately, Butler approached the towering doors before him. It gleamed white with overlaid gold, shining in the sunlight behind him. He placed a hand on the long vertical handle in front of him and pulled. The door came open swiftly and silently. Before him was a room that was almost entirely white. He squinted, taking the room in at a glance. He could just make out what appeared to be a small glowing patch at the far end of the room on the left side. Directly opposite it was a pedestal with what looked like a crystal ball on top of it. At the very back of the room up a small flight of stairs was another white door. There did not appear to be any adjoining doors on the sides of the room.

"It looks clear, but move in cautiously," Butler said, as he edged his way past the door.

Artemis and Mulch followed behind him. Artemis turned to watch as Holly began to cross over the threshold. She paused in mid-stride and took in a slow deep breath. "Problem?" he asked, just a hint of worry on the edge of his voice.

Holly nodded. "I think I'm going to need permission to enter."

Mulch gave a long loud sigh. "Well that's great. We'll just find one of these Organization XIII blokes and ask them nicely to let you in."

Holly started as a small voice whispered in her ear "_No, this place does not belong to them."_

Holly jerked her head around. "Who said that?" she asked, hand at her Neutrino.

"Who said what?" Artemis said with a raised eyebrow. He took a step closer to Holly and looked behind her outside. No one there.

"I didn't hear anything," Mulch said, joining Artemis at the door.

Butler took another quick sweep of the room. "I didn't either."

"_I don't know how, but I can hear you, whoever you are... Why do you need to enter?"_

Holly took a breath. "I think it might be telepathy. Maybe..." she said, doubt in her voice. "But," she continued, now addressing the mysterious voice, "my name is Holly. I'm here to rescue a boy named Sora from something called Organization XIII. He stopped an invasion of Heartless and they are trying

to take advantage of him while he is vulnerable."

There was a long pause. "_It's my fault... I should've saved him sooner, before the Darkness took him..." _Another pause. _"Yes," _ the voice said finally. _"You may enter. And please help Sora. I didn't want this for him."_ The voice had grown fainter with every word, and with the final pronouncement Holly knew that whatever connection she had happened upon had been severed.

"Well," Holly said, "let's try this again." She put out her foot and easily passed over the threshold. "Ta-da," she said, turning around to pull the door shut.

"Who did you hear, Holly?" Artemis asked.

"The real owner of this place. A woman," Holly said, walking forward. She gave the room a once over much as Butler had. "She sounded like she was trapped somewhere far away and when I tried to cross the threshold, my desire to enter somehow synced with her for a few minutes."

"Intriguing," Artemis said. "That means this Castle does _not_ belong to Organization XIII."

"No, no it doesn't," a small voice said from behind them.

Artemis whipped around. Standing almost directly behind him was a small blond-haired girl who looked to be about his age. He gave a small wave of his hand to Butler, who was edging towards the two of them. Artemis smiled. "I take it you are the benefactor who has shielded us thus far?"

The blond-haired girl nodded. "Yes, my name is Namine. But we can't stay hidden here for long. Please, come with me." A small dark portal blossomed open behind her.

"Corridors of Darkness?" Artemis asked eyebrows raised. "Aren't those dangerous?"

"Yes," Namine said. "But less dangerous than standing here. Please, hurry, Marluxia already suspects something."

"Artemis?" Butler asked.

Artemis turned to the group at large. "In for a penny in for a pound?" he queried.

"Sure, I thought things were getting boring anyway. We haven't been in danger for ten whole minutes!" Mulch said cheerfully.

This journey through the portal was much shorter than the previous one. It was almost one step in and one step out. When they had passed through, Artemis found himself in yet another completely white room. There were a few drawings scattered around this one though, with what looked like two boys, one with silver hair and one with brown hair, along with what very well could be this Namine. As his eyes moved from picture to picture, Artemis noted that the brown haired boy was sometimes depicted with a very large key in his hand. Artemis nodded. "Sora, I take it?" he asked pointing at the picture. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Butler making a quiet circuit of the room.

"Yes," Namine said, touching it gently. She turned to face the group. She fidgeted slightly and slight crease between her brows indicated she was worried. "You must understand I didn't – don't- wish Sora harm in any way."

"You're not part of the Organization are you?" Holly asked arms crossed. She looked around at the drawings as well. "Do you know Sora?"

"Yes and no. I was born from the Heart of a close friend of his," she said, hand straying to her chest.

"Ah, so you are a Nobody," Artemis said. Despite not showing it, he was somewhat nonplussed. He had been told that the Nobodies were human in appearance, but he had been expecting... he didn't know something that looked human but did not act like one.

Namine nodded. "I was 'born' here mere weeks ago. I woke and there was no one. All I had were the memories of who I once was." She paused and in the pause there was a wistful longing. "And then the Organization came. They found out that I have power over Sora's memories."

"Power? How so?" Holly asked.

Namine looked troubled. "I think it was because the person who's heart I was born of, Kairi, her heart had taken refuge within Sora. When he found this out, he unlocked both her heart and his own."

"Wait," Artemis said, sharply. "I thought Nobodies were formed when Darkness consumed a heart."

"This is true, normally. But, Kairi had no Darkness in hers. It might also be part of the reason I have power of Sora. His memories specifically."

"What did the Fairies say?" Holly asked. "The Darkness that is in all hearts save for a special few?" She turned to Namine, eyes searching. "Was Kairi one of those special few?"

"She was," Namine confirmed, "a Princess of Heart." She shook her head. "But what is more important is what is happening to Sora now."

"And what is happening to Sora now?" Butler asked joining the group. The room was small and there was a door that looked like it led out to a floor similar to the one they had entered. There had been no one out there.

"At first, the Organization had planned to do away with Sora. But when they found out about me, they decided to try and control him instead. They are having me falsify his memories, replace all his memories of Kairi with me instead. They hope that they can bind him in a chain of memories, leave him so hopelessly lost that he will believe anyone and anything."

"And, so, to stop them from killing him, you agreed," Artemis said, now strolling around the room himself and looking at the pictures. He paused by one Mulch was looking at. It had Sora, Namine, and the silver-haired boy on a beach with a palm tree shading the three of them.

"What I want to know is how the silver-haired boy is," Mulch said, pointing at the picture. "And how he fits into this."

"'Fraid you're going to be left hanging on that point," a voice called lazily behind them.

Butler and Holly already had their Neutrinos out and trained on the new addition to the group. Red hair spiked in a huge mound on his head and what looked like black triangles were directly under his eyes. He was dressed in a long black robe in stark contrast to the white dress Namine wore. He leaned against the wall, smile as lazy as his voice, but there was a sharp edge to it.

"Who are you?" Artemis asked, trying to draw his attention to himself. If he could keep the mysterious intruder off-balance it might give Butler and Holly precious seconds they would need to take him down.

"Name's Axel," he said, touching a couple fingers to his forehead and then flicking them towards Artemis. "Got it memorized?" He straightened and casually flicked his arms. A dark spiraling energy centering on his hands materialized into two circular weapons with spiked edges all round them. "And while I _am_ curious to who you are, I've heard enough to know that you are a threat. And threats," and his smile became sharper, "have to be eliminated."

"No, they don't," Holly said, smoothly, her voice suddenly full and echoing. "You don't want to fight us."

Butler cast a quick glance at her. She was trying to cast a mesmer on this Axel. Moving cautiously to his right, he began to move behind Axel.

Axel stopped and turned towards Holly. He laughed. "That actually sorta tickles my brain." He shook his head.

"Yes," Holly said, never lowering her weapon. "You're going to put your weapons down."

Axel swayed for a moment and then shook his head like a dog. His body tensed and he took a fighting stance. "Sorry, no can-" But before he could finished, Butler had nailed him in the back with the Neutrino. Holly quickly complemented his blast from the front. Axel stumbled forward. "Why you-" he said, and then he closed his eyes.

"Everyone down!" Namine called.

Figuring it was best to listen to the person who had dealt with this man before, Artemis dove for the ground, just as a gigantic circular wave of fire erupted from around Axel.

Butler was instantly on his feet and charged Axel, tackling him to the ground, careful to avoid the spikes on Axel's weapons.

"Heh," Axel said, eye glancing at Butler and then, he wasn't there anymore. Butler hit the floor, stunned for a moment. And then he was turning, even though he could tell those spikes were probably already headed for his back.

But then he saw a blast of light and Axel fell back. Holly quickly darted to Butler's side and continued to lay into Axel, driving him back. Axel through out a hand and a fireball erupted from it. Holly and Butler dodged to the side, fire just missing them.

"Enough!" Namine cried, jumping in between Axel and Butler and Holly. "Axel, stop!"

"Namine, I like you, but if you don't move I will go straight through you," Axel said,his voice oddly calm.

"No, you won't!" Namine said, not budging. "If we don't help Sora, do you know what happens? You lose Roxas!"

Axel straightened at that and his body untensed somewhat. "Not if Marluxia's plan works," but his voice was uncertain.

"You've already met Sora. You know he is far stronger than Marluxia, or anyone, thought. In the end, I don't think it will matter if I replace and tangle all of Sora's memories. At heart Sora is a good person and he would never work for people like _you." _Namine's eyes penetrated into Axel's. "If we don't help Sora, Marluxia will destroy him."

"Hmmph," Axel said. He stared at Namine for a few more moments and then the darkness that had summoned his weapons took them. "Fine," he said. "But I want something in return."


	10. Chapter 10

*** Author's Note ***

It is ALIVE! Hey, if anyone is still reading this, I bet you thought it was dead. I thought it was dead too, myself. But, for some reason, people kept reviewing the darn thing and I thought "Y'know, if people are still reading this I should have the decency to finish it." So, here we go again. If you threw your hands up in disgust and walked away from this story, it's cool, I understand. But anyway, a short of review of where we are and how we got here, so you don't have to wade through nine chapters to remember what's going on...

The Three Fairies sought the aid of Holly Short to save Sora from Organization XIII since they themselves could not enter Castle Oblivion. Mulch Diggums and Holly both agreed to help them and enlisted Artemis Fowl and his bodyguard/mentor/friend Butler to help them as well. The Three Fairies took them to Castle Oblivion and then left to try and find Master Yen Sid.

After a short encounter with the Heartless, the group entered Castle Oblivion and met Namine, who helped bring them up to speed on what was going on. Axel then attacked the group and was finally stopped by Namine who warned him that if they didn't save Sora he would lose someone named Roxas. Axel agreed to help the group but warned them that he wanted something in return.

And with that _The Curtain Rises_

Artemis's eyes darted quickly from Namine to Axel. Connections were forming rapidly in his mind. He could almost see the electric blink of his synapses as they fired all at once. Everything he knew about Nobodies and Heartless was tumbling through his head. _When Darkness consumes a heart. The Will left over. No hearts. No emotions. Sora. Roxas. Unlocked his heart..._

"Sora is a Heartless," Artemis said quietly.

"Say what now?" Holly said, Neutrino still trained on Axel. Artemis could tell she wanted to turn around and stare at him but that she didn't dare take her eyes off the fiery-haired Nobody.

"He unlocked his heart, along with Kairi's. If Namine is Kairi's Nobody, I would bet even money that Roxas is Sora's."

"Yes," Namine said with a small smile. "Roxas is Sora's Nobody. But I wouldn't call Sora a Heartless since Kairi purged the Darkness from him. More like a Heartful."

Artemis nodded to himself. "I see. I know what you want," he said, turning to Axel. Well, he had a good guess at what he wanted. And if he was right, that would hopefully gain a little respect from this man- Nobody who was going to have to be an ally if they wanted to continue their mission.

Axel grinned at him. "Do you now, short stuff?" he asked putting a hand on his hip. "Do tell, what do I want?"

Artemis raised his chin and locked eyes with Axel. "You want your heart back."

Silence fell in the room. For a tiny micron of a moment, Artemis was worried that he might have been wrong. Then Axel's grin widened and he actually began to laugh softly. "Clever," he said. "Yes, I want my heart back."

"How did you even begin to come to that conclusion?" Holly asked, slowly lowering her Neutrino but not putting it away. Axel may have stopped his attack for now, but he was still an enemy who could quickly pull back his weapons from wherever he had put them.

"Simple," Artemis said, tugging on his jacket. "When Namine remarked that Axel would lose Roxas without Sora it occurred to me that a Nobody without a Heart cannot exist. At least not for long. "

"Well, why didn't you just think he wanted you to do something to help Roxas?" Holly asked, cocking her head to look at Artemis.

"Because, like I said, he's clever," Axel said, walking across the room towards Artemis. Butler soundlessly shadowed him, his holstered Neutrino quickly in his hand again. "He had already agreed to help with Roxas by saving Sora. What I wanted had to be something more." He reached forward and mussed Artemis's hair. Only a quick glance from Artemis stopped Butler from dislocating Axel's shoulder.

"Indeed," Artemis said, waving off Axel's hand. "So some of us will need to stay here and help Sora and some will need to look for your heart. Wherever that may be."

Axel was turning now and eying the group critically. "You can't stay here like this though," he said. "I found you within minutes. It won't take Marluxia much longer." He snapped his fingers suddenly. "I got it!" he said, the Corridors of Darkness blooming open behind him again. "Don't move I'll be right back!" And he disappeared, the Darkness enveloping him.

"He could be going for help," Butler said as the portal closed behind him.

"He could," Artemis agreed. "But I don't think running will help us. If all the members can use these Corridors, they'll be able to find us anywhere."

"True," Holly said, coming over and joining them. "But that doesn't mean they have to find us _here_."

Before anyone else could say anything, the black portal came to life behind them again and Axel stepped through holding a small book. "It was a little tricky, but I managed to filch this from Zexion's work space without him noticing." He tossed it to Namine who caught it. She looked at it curiously sifting through the pages.

Mulch, who was standing next to her, looked up curiously. He whistled after a moment. "Holly, you might want to see this," he said, pointing at the book.

Holly walked over, trailed by Artemis. Butler kept himself between the group and Axel. Axel, noticing this, grinned at him. "No worries, we're all friends here now."

Butler raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"It looks like the language of the People!" Holly said.

"Magic," Artemis breathed.

"Why did you give this to me, Axel?" Namine asked looking up from it. She looked slightly confused.

Axel shrugged. "You're the one everyone calls a witch. I figured if anyone was going to be able to use Zexion's book of zingers to hide these guys you would."

Namine shook her head. "My magic is based in memories. Specifically Sora's and those connected to him in the memories. The best I could do is make Sora and his friends think they had always known these people."

Axel sighed dramatically and sagged. "Well, I don't know what to do then. I can throw a fireball but I can't cast deceptions like Zexion can. And I really doubt he would help us."

"Hmm," Artemis said, taking the book from Namine. He could swear he felt a tingling in his fingers as he held the book. "So, you have a magic based in fire and Namine in memories. What is this Zexion based in?"

Axel shrugged. "I dunno. Knowledge maybe?"

Artemis's eyes lit up at that and he looked down at the book again. "I wonder," he said softly.

"I know what you're thinking Mud Boy," Holly said. She reached over and knocked lightly on Artemis's forehead. "Yes, humans used to have magic but it died a long time ago."

"Then where did this come from?" Artemis asked. "Nobodies are at least partially human. Wouldn't someone who is Complete be able to wield this better than someone who is not?"

"Why don't you let me try and use it?" Holly suggested, reaching for the book. "At least I have experience with magic."

"Because if this works, I can actually defend myself," Artemis said, somewhat testily. "I appreciate yours and Butler's efforts to keep me alive-"

"And thank you too," Mulch said, grinning.

Artemis ignored him. "But it would be nice to be able to do something besides hiding behind the handiest solid object when a real fight breaks out."

Holly glared at him, hand still held out for the book. Butler turned slightly towards Artemis. "Artemis, while being able to protect yourself would be a plus, there is no guarantee you will be able to control this magic, even if you can use it."

"Guys, come on," Axel said, starting to sound slightly nervous. "We need to decide what to do and fast." he glanced over his shoulder. "Okay, look. I'll go and distract them. Go challenge Sora to a battle. I won't hurt him," he added immediately as Namine began to speak up. "Just make it serious enough so everyone is focused on us and not over here. You'll need a plan by the time I get back. And a decision on who's going to look for my heart." He put two finger to his forehead and flicked them out. "Got it memorized?" he asked.

"Yes," Artemis said, closing the book with a snap. "Perfectly."

"Later then," Axel said with a last wave and he dove into a Corridor of Darkness.

There was silence for a moment after Axel left. Holly still held out her hand for the book but Artemis made no move to give it to her. Holly sighed. "Alright, Artemis. At least let me pick a spell for you to try out."

Artemis gave a clipped nod. "Fine," he said, handing her the book.

"Deception," Namine said quietly, looking from Butler to Artemis.

Mulch looked up at her. "You sound like you have the inkling of an idea."

"Only if he can use the book," Namine said quietly as Holly paged through it.

"Well, while we are waiting, who _is_ this silver-haired boy then?" Mulch asked, pointing to one of the pictures on the wall.

"Riku, Sora's best friend," Namine said. "They were very close. But, Riku accepted the Darkness into this Heart. But it didn't overcome him, like most people. You could almost say he mastered it. But he invited something worse than Darkness into his heart a short time afterward."

"What?" Mulch asked, intrigued. "What could be worse than the Darkness that turns you into a monster?"

"The one who flooded us with it," Namine said, as Holly handed the book back to Artemis.

"Okay," she said. "This spell should create a small orb of light in your hand."

"Truly handy if I ever need a reading light during a blackout," Artemis said. He turned to Butler. "Where did you put the dimensional ration case?"

Butler pointed at a table on the side of the room. "Underneath there," he said.

Artemis walked over to it and rummaged inside. After a moment he pulled out the C Cube. Setting the book on the table he held the C Cube over it. "Now a quick scan, and quick decode," he muttered. "And done!" He looked at the C Cube for a moment and then nodded. He took a deep steadying breath and then began. "_A small light to guide for when other lights of died." _Artemis looked to his hand expectantly but nothing appeared there.

Holly and Butler both released a sigh of relief at the same moment. "You see?" Holly said. "It won't work for you."

Artemis frowned for a moment. He had hoped when he had felt the tingle in his fingers... He lightly slapped himself on the head. "Of course," he muttered picking up the book. "I should probably try doing the spell while holding it." He felt the tingle enter his fingers again and with renewed confidence he said the spell again. "_A small light to guide for when other lights have died."_ Instantly a small orb of light appeared in Artemis' right palm. "Yes!" he said triumphantly, holding his hand up.

"Great," Holly muttered, pinching her nose between her fingers

"Perfect!" Namine said. "You can use his spells! You could be him!"

"Who? Zexion?" Artemis asked, curiously. He shook his hand a few times and the light went out.

"Yes and Lexaeus," Namine said, pointing to Butler. "They stick together just like you two. And you have similar builds and looks."

"What good will similar do us?" Butler asked. He paused and then looked slightly uncomfortable. "Wait, Axel said Zexion could cast deceptions. Are you suggesting Artemis use that book to make us look like those two?"

Namine nodded.

Artemis was hurriedly flipping through the book. "We're going to have to give this back," he said. "I can't imagine he would want to leave it alone for long. Especially if he needs it for magic too." He stopped at a page that had a picture of two pieces of fruit, one of them surrounded by a glowing nucleus that was attached to the first fruit by a small strand and stopped. He scanned it. "Yes, duplication," he said.

"Be careful, Artemis," Holly said, looking over the page. "Duplicates normally don't contain the same power level as the real deal."

"Well, I can't keep the original, Zexion would probably noticed if I replaced his book with a fake," Artemis said. He placed a hand on the book as the spell indicated and began "_Rend the essence and make anew, where once was one now is two."_ The book glowed brightly for a moment. Then, the brightness slid to the right of the book and congealed into a roughly book sized shape. When it faded, a duplicate of the spell book stood there. Artemis picked it up. He could still feel the tingle, but it was definitely less powerful. He tried the light orb spell again. It worked but he could feel it pulling more energy from him then the when he used the real book. "It will have to do," he said with a sigh, shaking his hand again.

"How old school," a voice from the other end of the room said.

Artemis jerked his head up and Butler and Holly already had their Neutrinos out. Axel leaned against the wall on the far side of the room grinning. Mulch offered him the two fingered salute that Axel had departed with earlier. "You missed your calling. You should have been a burglar," Mulch said. "You've certainly got the silent entrance down."

Artemis snapped the book shut. "And just what do you mean, old school?" he asked a little testily.

"Reading out the whole spell like that," Axel said. "Zexion hasn't had to do that in years." He stretched. "So what's the plan?"

"Namine has suggested that Artemis and I take on the likeness of this Zexion and someone named Lexaeus," Butler said, putting his Neutrino back in the holster.

Axel looked from Artemis to Butler and nodded. "I can see it," he said. "You _do _ look like them. Even have something of a similar dynamic. Hmm." He stared at them for a moment and the grinned, a bit unnervingly. "Yes, I think that would work out just perfectly." He turned to Holly and Mulch. "Guess that nominates you two to find my heart."

"Peachy," Holly said, rolling her eyes. "And just where should we be looking?"

"Well, I'm from a place called Radiant Garden," Axel said. He stopped himself and shook his head. "Was called Radiant Garden anyway. It goes by Hollow Bastion now."

"Charming," Holly remarked.

"The thing is though," Axel said, "If you just blast it with that little doohickey you've got, my heart'll just float around for a bit and then reform as a Heartless."

Holly put a hand to her forehead. "Pray tell, what are we supposed to do then? Tie it up and bring it here?"

"That'd be nice if they couldn't just fade back into the Dark," Axel said with a smirk. "You need two things. You need a containment unit from the basement laboratory at the Castle at Hollow Bastion and a Keyblade."

"What, that thing that Sora used to beat up the Heartless? This thing?" Mulch asked, pointing to the large Key in Sora's hand in one of the pictures."

"That thing," Axel agreed. "I've got a, uh, friend," he said, stumbling over the word. "Roxas actually. He's back at our base and he's got a Keyblade of his own we can use. If you can find my heart you can trap the Heartless in a containment unit. It won't be able to escape."

"How do you know?" Holly asked.

"Believe me, I know. From experience," Axel said, rubbing his chest. "If you get the Heartless to him and have him whack it with the keyblade that should stop it from reforming into a Heartless. And as long as you keep it contained, you can bring it back to me. Easy."

"So easy you haven't done it," Mulch observed.

"I have my reasons," Axel said.

"How do we know which Heartless is your heart?" Holly asked.

Axel shrugged. "That's for you to find out."

Holly sighed. "Alright, I need you to injure yourself slightly."

Axel just started at her for a second. "Come again?"

"I can heal people with magic. If I heal you, I'll get a sort of base reading on you and how my magic interacts with you. It'll help me find your heart."

"Heh. Works for me," Axel said. He called forth one of his weapons. Gently he poked it against his left hand until it tore the skin slightly. "Heal away," Axel said holding out his hand and dismissing the weapon again.

Holly passed her hand over the wound, green sparks dancing between her palm and Axel's. She closed her eyes and focused on the feeling, the way the sparks ricocheted wildly, almost as if they themselves had caught on fire. And then the wound was healed and she opened her eyes. "Okay," she said, "that should do it." She turned to Artemis and Butler. "I really don't like us splitting up though."

"I must admit, I don't like it either," Butler said crossing his arms.

"I don't care whether you like it or not," Axel said, leaning forward into a slightly more combative stance. "I'm being nice here. The people I can introduce you to won't be so generous."

"Indeed," Artemis remarked. He turned to Holly and smiled slightly. "I assure you with Butler at my side I couldn't be safer. And I know you can take care of yourself." He cast a sidelong glance at Mulch. "You might have to look after the dwarf though."

"The dwarf," Mulch said, "has been looking after you lot for so long he won't know what to do with his free time when he gets some." He cracked his jaw and turned to Holly. "Come on, let's get going. It's getting boring here."

Axel reached in front of himself and opened a Corridor of Darkness. "Alright, listen. This will take you to our base in The World That Never Was."

"So, a Nobody World?" Mulch asked, stepping up to the corridor.

"Yeah, literally," Axel said, pushing his hair of his forehead and grinning. "The room you'll end up in is a wayport of sorts. There should be a portal to Hollow Bastion marked in there. You can also find Roxas in the base. He's a blond-haired kid about fourteen years old, yay high." He held his hand about five and half feet off the ground. "He's quiet and kinda loopy. Didn't take to the Nobodification very well. Tell him I sent you and he should help you out." His grin became slightly more predatory. "You'll probably want to avoid anyone else though. Organization XII doesn't take kindly to visitors."

"There's no one else in there we can trust?" Holly asked, stepping up behind Mulch, Neutrino at the ready. She remembered the Heartless in the other Corridor all too well.

Axel appeared to seriously think about it for a minute. "Well..." he said. And then he shook his head. "No, not anymore."

Holly cocked her head at him. Flora had said Nobodies didn't have emotions, but she could have sworn Axel sounded sad just then. She shook her head. It didn't matter, not right now anyway. She had a stealth mission to enact. And if there was anything her kind was good at, it was definitely stealth. "Let's go," she said, gesturing into the Darkness. She turned back to Artemis at the last second. "You'd better be in one piece when I get back Mud Boy," she said.

"It's not me who will be in pieces when you return," Artemis said with a knowing smile.

Holly turned back to the Corridor with a smile of her own and for just a moment, actually felt pity for Organization XIII. And then she and Mulch where engulfed in the Darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

"So, who is this Marluxia?" Artemis asked as the portal closed behind Holly. He was already flipping through his copy of Zexion's book, looking for a spell that would change his appearance.

"And who else is here?" Butler asked. "And how much of a danger do they pose?"

"Well, let's see," Axel said, ticking them off on his fingers. "There's Marluxia, Larxene, Zexion, Lexaeus, Vexen, Namine here and myself." He smiled widely. "You've already had a taste of how dangerous I am. Just assume anyone here could easily lay you flat if you let them. Especially Larxene." He shook his head. "You may think I'm crazy but she's named her knives. In French."

"Which means she's probably exceptionally good with them," Butler said to himself, nodding. He had been tempted to name a few weapons in his time, but had never been ever to make himself comfortable with calling an inanimate object "Vera" or something similar.

"I take it, Marluxia is the leader of Organization XIII then?" Artemis said, finding the page he wanted. "Since he's the one you wanted us to hide from?"

Axel gave a short sharp laugh. "No, he's not the leader. He's just the leader of the expedition out here in Castle Oblivion. Xemnas is the true leader of Organization XIII. Marluxia and Larxene want to overthrow him. And Vexen and his cronies Zexion and Lexaeus want to overthrow Marluxia."

"And just where do you stand in all this?" Butler asked, arms crossed facing him squarely.

Axel smirked at Butler, a small spark of fire dancing off the end of his fingers. "That would be telling, wouldn't it?"

Artemis, however, was staring intently at Axel. "Xemnas? Why does that name sound so familiar?" He frowned. His eyes widened. "You don't mean to tell me Xemnas is Ansem's Nobody, do you?"

Axel cocked both his hands as if he was shooting Artemis and pointed at him. "Bingo! Give the kid a prize!"

"That is extremely intriguing," Artemis said. "Hm, I wonder, did Sora defeat his Heartless or did Sora create his Heartless when he defeated him?" He shook his head. "No matter, at least for now." He turned to Namine. "The spell says I need an image of the person I wish to look like. Do you have anything I can use?"

"Give me a moment," Namine said, reaching up into her hair and pulling out a pencil that had been tucked behind her ear. She fetched a pad of paper from the table and began to draw. At times her strokes were long and broad and then they would become a frenzy of scribbles. When she turned the paper to Artemis he had to suppress a gasp. Namine's drawings that were scattered around the room looked like they had been done in crayon and while they had a certain charm to them they were nothing to write home about. But this pencil rendition, it almost looked like a photograph. As if she could sense his admiration, Namine blushed slightly. "This is Zexion," she said, tearing off the paper and handing it to Artemis. "I'll start on one of Lexaeus."

Artemis took the paper in his hand and looked down at it. "How does he do that, hair gel?" he asked, frowning slightly while looking at Zexion's hair. He had to admit, Namine had been right, aside from the spiked hair, this Zexion did bear a slight resemblance to himself. "Okay," Artemis said, taking a breath.

"Artemis, wait," Butler said, holding up a hand. He quickly undid his Neutrino holster and put it on the table, but with a hand within grabbing distance. "We should probably take off anything we don't want transformed with us."

Artemis nodded. "Good idea," he said, taking his enchanted sunglasses out of his blazer pocket. Then, holding up the book in one hand the image of Zexion in the other, he began, "_I no longer wish this form or face, let me have this other in its place!"_

For a moment, nothing happened, at least from Artemis' perspective. Then the entire room seemed to melt around him and for fraction of a second, Artemis was sure he had royally screwed up something somewhere. And then, everything came back into focus. "That was... disorienting," Artemis said, putting a hand to his forehead. Then he put the same hand to his throat. That had not been his voice coming out of this mouth. "Well, that's convenient," he said. "I was wondering if I was going to have to put on his voice."

"I will admit, this is downright creepy," Axel said. "If I hadn't seen it happened, I would swear you are Zexion."

Artemis looked down and saw he now wore a long black cloak similar to Axel's. Tentatively he moved in it. "I hope this won't trip me up." He ran a hand through his hair and then pulled it out. "Odd, I don't feel any gel. How _does _he do that? Or you for that matter?" he asked, turning to Axel.

Axel laughed and reached over and pulled on Artemis's hair. "What, the spikes? Those are normal. It's you flat hairs that are odd."

Namine handed Artemis another picture. "This is Lexaeus," she said, handing it to Artemis.

Butler came and looked over his shoulder. "Big guy," he commented.

"Like some people I know," Artemis said with a sly look up at Butler.

Butler sighed. "Will this hurt?" he asked, bracing himself.

"No," Artemis said. "But as I said it is very disorienting."

"Let's get it over with then."

Artemis held the picture of Lexaeus carefully in one hand and the book in the other. "_He no longer wishes his form or face, let him have this other in its place!"_

This time Artemis was treated to a perspective flip on the transformation cycle and he was profoundly disappointed. All he saw was Butler glowing brightly for a few moments (_I didn't see any glow,_ he thought) and when it subsided, the hulking Lexaeus was in his place.

"It feels odd to have hair again," Butler said, reaching up and feeling his head. He reached over to the table and slipped the Neutrino under his cloak.

"Alright then!" Axel said, rubbing his hands together. He reached in his cloak and pulled something out and tossed it to Artemis.

Artemis reached up and caught it and then pulled it down, looking at it quizzically. "A card?" he said.

Axel nodded. "Yep. It's how the doors work around here. Namine crafted a bunch from Sora's memories so he can traipse through them and get lost and tangled and whatever else it was Marluxia wanted. That's a Master Card though, will instantly take you to whatever level you want. Floor 1 is the ground floor and counting it there are 13 floors going up. We also have 12 basement floors, but I suggest you stay out of those as the real Lexaeus and Zexion can be found lurking down there."

"Where is Sora now?" Butler asked as Artemis pocketed the card.

"Making his way through Floor 2," Axel said, stretching. "And I've gotta go. I've been paired up with Larxene to watch his progress. Just don't do anything too obvious, okay?" he said as Darkness blossomed around him as he left through a Corridor.

"Is there a teleportation spell in that book?" Butler asked after Axel left. He walked to the end of the room and looked out the door again. The floor was still empty but seeing how Axel got around that didn't mean much. Thirteen floors above and twelve floors below that he wasn't familiar with was far too much territory for hostiles to hide in.

"Yes," Artemis said finally after paging through it. "What are you suggesting, we run in, grab Sora, and run back out?"

"Yes,"Butler said flatly.

"I think that fall under the category of "obvious"," Artemis said, smiling slightly. Butler couldn't help but notice how odd it looked on this Zexion's face. Almost devilish. Not that Artemis had ever looked like an angel...

"I don't think it will work," Namine said. "Marluxia would notice." She twisted her hands together. "But I've already started tampering with Sora's memories. If you did manage to pull him out now I could reverse the damage quickly. If not," and she looked over to Artemis and Butler with pleading eyes.

"Alright, let's try it at least," Artemis said, moving towards the main foyer. Butler kept pace behind him. Trotting up the steps to the door at the end of the room, Artemis pulled out the card Axel had given him and held it up. "Nice of Axel to tell us how to use this before he left." Artemis shook his head. Ah, Floor 2?" he said, questioningly. The doors glowed in front of him and began to open. Butler put a protective hand on Artemis's shoulder as they finished swinging.

For a moment, Artemis and Butler just stood staring. "_This_ is a castle floor?" Artemis said, stepping in the room. He turned around in a circle. It looked like he was in the middle of a demented rose garden, with red roses, and some white roses that look like they had had red paint thrown on them. All the bushes were cut into the shapes of hearts. A large green hedge surrounded them on four sides, interrupted at regular intervals by pathways that wandered off into the landscape. Yet despite the greenery, the area had a distinctly flat appearance to it, as if someone had painted a very convincing outdoor scene on the wall that you could only tell was a painting on close inspection. A red, man-sized Playing Card carrying a lance with a heart shaped tip stalked by him on his appointed rounds, sparing neither a glance for Artemis or Butler.

"Wonderland," Butler said, bemused. "Perhaps we won't have to worry about being obvious after all."

"Perhaps," Artemis agreed, stepping forward. He stopped in his tracks, however, as Darkness bloomed up in front of him. Out of it stepped a black cloaked figure, much like Axel, but this one had his hood up.

"What are you doing here?" the cloaked figure inquired.

Artemis quickly drew himself up. "We heard that the manipulation of Sora's memories had begun," he said, smoothly. "We wished to see just how well the plan was working."

"Hmm," the cloaked figured said. He reached up and pulled back the hood. It took all of Artemis's self-control not to laugh as a man with head full of pink hair appeared. "Vexen and you two did not show much enthusiasm for my plan before," he said, eyes penetrating.

_Marluxia_ Artemis thought. So, this was their main opponent! He didn't look like much, but Axel and Namine were object lessons that that meant nothing in this world. "No," Artemis said, thinking rapidly. "However, I am open to being proven wrong."

"Are you now?" Marluxia said, looking from Artemis to Butler.

Artemis began to sweat slightly. It looked like his deception spell was being tested a little sooner than he expected.

"We all have the Organization's best interests at... heart," Butler interjected, moving up beside Artemis.

Marluxia gave a soft laugh. "Indeed," he said. He shook his head then. "Much as I would like to believe your intentions, I can't have you in here while Sora is walking through his memories. It would just prove an unnecessary distraction."

"I see," Artemis said.

"In fact," Marluxia said, narrowing his eyes slightly, but his voice still calm, "I would prefer it if you leave Sora alone until the process is complete. "

Artemis could tell there was no "prefer" about it thought. He only nodded though. "I understand. Lexaeus and I will take our leave."

"I thank you," Marluxia said, a dark portal opening behind him. "Though you should feel free to watch Sora's progress from any of the crystal balls on the levels." He smiled in what should have been a soft manner, but instead it sent a chill down Artemis's spine. And then he was gone.

"Come on," Butler said, guiding him out of the room. He was careful neither to walk too quickly or too slowly. The doors closed behind them with a solemn thud.

Artemis looked back towards them and shook his head. "I do hope Holly and Mulch are having better luck than we are."


	12. Chapter 12

Holly took one last glance behind as the portal closed off Castle Oblivion behind them. Then she looked forward and saw a pinprick of light ahead. "Okay, let's head for the light at the end of the tunnel," Holly said, pointing with her Neutrino.

"I wish you wouldn't put it like that," Mulch said, cautiously looking around. He lightly passed a hand over the Corridor wall, if you could call it that, next to him. He could tell from the feel of it, from the way it drained the warmth from his hand, that he would not be able to climb it. Which meant no digging as well more than likely. The sooner they were out of here the better.

About halfway through the tunnel, Holly stopped. Mulch bounced off her back. "Why'd you stop?" he asked, getting up off the floor and rubbing his nose.

"There," Holly said pointing with her Neutrino towards the floor. "It's blacker than the rest of the floor."

Mulch leaned forward and squinted. "Are you sure you're not just seeing things?" he asked. The blackness suddenly pulled forward and lashed forward towards him. Mulch felt Holly's hand on his shoulder and shoving him back before it could hit him.

As the blackness rose, Holly fired a few shots at it. It staggered slightly but kept pulling up. Holly watched with growing horror as she realized this thing was actually taller than she was. It looked sort of like the Heartless they had fought earlier. But this thing was not cute and rotund like those had been. This looked like an adult version. The two antennae were much longer now, and it's body was long and sleek. The fingers on the hands came down to vicious points. Points that were now swinging straight towards Holly. She fired off two more shots before rolling to the side.

Coming up, she aimed her Neutrino square at the back of the Heartless and fired a steady shot into his back. "Come on, come on," she muttered.

Mulch was preparing to launch himself at the Heartless Holly was firing at when he noticed another pool of black on black moving behind Holly and then pulling up...

Changing direction, Mulch charged towards Holly. Ignoring her look of surprise, he let loose with an explosive blast of flatulence and lowered his head, hitting the new Heartless square in its chest and sending it staggering backwards.

Holly gave a glance backwards and realized there were more pools of darkness moving towards them quickly. A quick glance forward caused her to jump back as the first Heartless had made a swipe at her face. _These are smarter than the other Heartless_ Holly thought as she saw the black pools methodically trying to move behind both her and Mulch. They couldn't win this fight. Not like this. She flocked on her wings. "Hold on Diggums," she said, hovering into the air. She pulled a sharp U-turn in the air and dove back for him.

"Hold on to what?" Mulch asked, as Holly grabbed him.

Holly grunted and wrapped her arms around Mulch, lifting off and flying on a beeline for the light ahead of them. "So, what, you don't just look like a bowling ball, you ate one too?" she asked, as she felt her grip on him slip slightly. Her flight path wavered as she tried to keep them both aloft.

"Less talking more flying," Mulch said, looking back to the Heartless that were pursuing them. "Persistent, I'll give them that."

With a final burst of speed, Holly and Mulch flew through the light, the portal closing behind them. Holly immediately began to decelerate, which was a good thing, since she was headed straight for a wall. She pulled desperately and just managed to skim up the wall instead of ramming into it.

"I think I'd like to get down now," Mulch said, staring at the wall that was mere centimeters from his nose.

"You and me both," Holly said, as they lowered back to the ground. She put Mulch down and then flipped the wings back off. She leaned against the wall and breathed for a moment. "Talk about a difficulty curve," she said, pulling out her Neutrino and looking at it. "We didn't even take down one of those things."

"All the more reason to find, Roxas," Mulch said, walking around the room. "Hopefully keyblades work better against these things than Neutrinos." As he walked around the room he noted colored circles on the floor. Above the circles on the wall were nameplates. "Agrabah, Wonderland, Traverse Town," Mulch read out loud. He stopped in front of a deep red circle. "Hollow Bastion. Guess this is the one we're taking," he said, pointing at it with his thumb.

"Roxas first," Holly said, looking around the corner. She motioned with her hand. "It's clear. Let's go."

Holly and Mulch quietly crept down the hall. It dead-ended into a T, with the corridor in front of them stretching to the right and left.

"Split up or stay together?" Mulch queried, looking both ways down the corridor.

"Stay together," Holly said firmly. "We're in unknown hostile territory. If one of us got in trouble, we wouldn't be able to call for help."

"Well, if both of us get in trouble we won't be calling for help either," Mulch said, with a grin.

Holly glared at him and he held up his hands. "Yes, yes, I understand what you're saying. No Scooby-Dooing for us."

"Scooby whating?" Holly said, stepping out into the corridor. She hesitated for a moment and then headed right.

"Nothing," Mulch said, following her. He felt better now that he was on solid ground. Not that this ground was made for tunneling either, but at least touching it didn't sap the warmth from his limbs.

The sound of voices came from up around the bend. Holly and Mulch looked at each other and then back down the corridor. There was nowhere to hide. Mulch pointed to the ceiling. "Up," he mouthed.

Holly nodded and flicked on her wings. "You don't have time to climb," she said quietly, crouching down.

Mulch sighed. "I hate flying," he said, clambering onto her back.

Grunting , Holly pushed herself up, the engines helping her lift Mulch's weight. Silently she hovered at the ceiling as two black cloaked figures came around the bend up ahead. _Don't look up, don't look up,_ she thought.

"So, he just fell asleep? And won't wake up?" the one with black hair and an eye-patch across one eye asked. He laughed. "So much for Xemnas' plan to build a better Keyblade master."

"There's what's her name," the other one said. He had a mound of blond hair on his head and was carrying what looked like a gaudily colored metal guitar. "She can use the Keyblade."

"Eh," the first one said. "She's even more of a cold fish than Roxas was. If you can even call her a she." And then the two turned another bend and were gone.

Holly and Mulch came to the floor again. "Well, that's great," Mulch said, hopping off her back. "The guy we're looking for is incapacitated."

"Let's find him anyway. Maybe I can wake him, like I did with Artemis's mom," Holly said, quietly walking forward again. She had to admit, this news dismayed her, though. If they couldn't wake up Roxas she didn't know what they were going to do about Axel's heart. Though those two had been talking about someone else who could use a Keyblade. Maybe they could find her, whoever she was.

Coming to another fork in the road, Holly looked left and right again.

"Hey," Mulch said, pointing up at the wall. "I think these are rooms. Those look like names by the doors."

Holly looked where he was pointing and saw the name Xigbar next to the closed door. "Okay, let's try it," Holly said, walking down the corridor. Scanning ahead, she tried to look for any open doors that might have people inside them who might peak out. She didn't see any.

Mulch was trotting ahead, already having completed his own scan. He stopped by one door and pushed on it experimentally.

"Roxas's room?" Holly asked, coming up beside.

"Nah, Axel's," Mulch said, with a wicked grin. "I want to see what he has in here."

"Mulch," Holly said, half sighing, half groaning. She grabbed his arm and pulled. "Come on, the less time we spend here the better."

"Fine," Mulch said, relenting. He made a note to himself to slip away if possible and break into the room though.

At the end of the corridor they found Roxas's room. Holly pushed on the door but it was locked. She turned to Mulch. "Your specialty I believe," she said, gesturing at the door.

"Darn right it is," Mulch said, pulling a piece of hair out of his scalp. Almost instantly it hardened as he bent it into the shape he want. He slid it into the lock on the door and began to turn it. After a few moments, the door popped open. And that's how the professionals do it," Mulch said, sticking the hair in a pocket in case he needed it again.

Cautiously, Holly pushed the door open. Neutrino at the ready, she stepped in. She made a quick survey of the room. A small desk with a lamp and what looked like a book on it. A bed with young blond-haired kid lying on it, asleep. Nothing else. No knick knacks, no other furniture.

Mulch followed her in and closed the door behind her. "Can you wake him up?" he asked.

"I don't know," Holly said, climbing up on the bed. Carefully, she stepped over Roxas's sleeping form. Clasped in his hands was a very large key. It had a yellow handle, and off the handle hung what looked like a normal-sized key-chain that ended in a Mickey Mouse head shape. Tentatively she touched his forehead and closed her eyes. She probed him gently with her magic, trying to find what had caused his sudden slumber. She shook her head after a moment. "I don't know what's caused this sleep." She stood up straight again, turning to Mulch. "And I don't think I can wake him."

Suddenly her eyes widened, and she quickly brought her Neutrino up again. "Mulch," she said sharply, turn around and back away from the door.

In front of the still closed door still stood a small black cloaked figure, who looked like they might have been a little smaller than Roxas. The figure held out a hand. There was a flash of light, and then, in the hand was a Key like the one Roxas held in his sleep.

"The other Keyblade user!" Holly exclaimed to herself. "Hello," she said tentatively. Before she could say anything else, the figure had leapt at her in a blur of motion. Holly shot the Neutrino, but the shot went wild and missed. She dove backward, landing on Roxas, and the Keyblade whizzed through the air where she had been standing seconds before. She could see the figure turning blindingly fast, arcing the Key down towards her again.

Holly didn't think, she just reacted. Her hands grasped the Key Roxas held and ripped it from his hands, dropping her Neutrino. She felt a surge of power jolt through her, but she only barely registered it as she brought the Key up to block the one headed for her head. The Keys clashed and locked in midair. For a moment they struggled, and then Holly lashed out with her right leg and kicked the figure off her.

The black cloaked figure fell backwards and Holly leapt up, Key still in hand, and charged forward. The figure dove to the side and pointed the Key at Holly. "Ice," Holly heard a voice quietly say, and the Key pointed at her spat out a shard of ice. Holly slashed at it with the Keyblade in her hand and it shattered into a million pieces.

"Who are you?" she asked, standing in a defensive position, Keyblade at the ready.

"Memories," Holly thought she heard the figure say, as the figure charged again. Holly held her ground, and sidestepped at the last second, swinging her Key into the figure's legs.

With a small oomph the black cloaked figure landed and the hood slid back. She, for it was a she, looked up. For a moment, Holly had a glimpse of black hair and blue eyes before the hood was pulled over her head again. "Why are you attacking us?" Holly asked, Key still at the ready.

"Roxas," the black cloaked figure said quietly.

"Whoa, whoa," Mulch said, finally jumping into the fray. He held up his hands. "Hey, listen, we're here to help Roxas. Axel sent us."

The figure looked from Holly to Mulch. "Axel?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes at Castle Oblivion," he said, with his most winning smile.

"I was trying to wake Roxas up, when you came in," Holly said.

The figure began to relax now.

"What's you name?" Mulch asked, stepping towards her.

The figure backed up a little. "Name?"

"Yeah, what are you called?"

Silence for a moment. "Xion," the answer came.

"Well, Xion, I'm Mulch and this is Holly. Axel told us to find Roxas so he could help us with something."

Xion said nothing.

Holly walked forward now too, lowering the Key. "I don't know what's wrong with Roxas," she said.  
"My magic can't wake him. But, if you let us leave and don't tell anyone, I'll come back after we've got what Axel needs and I'll wake him up."

Xion looked up at Roxas. "Okay," she said, quietly.

Holly frowned. "We still need a Keyblade user, though."

Mulch raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think you were just doing there? Making bread?"

Holly looked down at the Key in her hands, surprised it was still there. It felt slightly warm. More than that, it felt right. Almost as if the thing was alive and it knew it was in good hands. She looked up at Xion, who was looking down at the Key in Holly's hands. "Do you mind if I borrow this?" she asked. "Use it until I come back to wake up Roxas?"

There was silence again for a long moment. And then finally, Xion nodded. "Okay," she said again, quietly.

"Thank you, Xion," Holly said, reaching out a hand to her. "I promise I'll come back."

Xion hesitated and then reached out a hand of her own. Holly grasped and shook it, smiling.

Mulch took this moment to quietly slip out the door and back down the corridor. He really did want to see what was in Axel's room. Pulling the hair out of his pocket, he reached up to the lock. "Alright, pretty boy, let's see what secrets you've got." Mulch felt something solid thwack his head. Looking up, he saw the Keyblade held above him.

"Let's go," Holly said, poking him with the Key. When Mulch turned around, she handed him her Neutrino and holster. "Here, you might as well use this while I've got this thing."

"Don't know what I'll do with it," Mulch said, putting the holster on. "If it makes you feel better though." Then, quietly as they had infiltrated, Holly and Mulch headed back to the portal room, while Xion stood silently in Roxas's door, watching them go.


End file.
